The present invention relates to air bag apparatus for a vehicle.
The body of an automobile has a roof rail in proximity to the head of a passenger, and a pad with a cross-sectional shape of a hat provided on the roof rail. When a side collision or the like occurs, if a passenger's head comes into contact with this pad, deformation of the pad absorbs the energy of the collision with the head, thereby protecting the head of the passenger.
Recently, there have been cases in which an air bag is disposed on the roof rail as protection in the case of a side collision, and technology related to this is disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent application publication H9-156450. In an air bag apparatus of this type, a folded-up air bag is disposed in proximity to the roof rail, this air bag expanding downward so as to protect the head of a passenger in the case of a side collision.